Gunmen Rob Bank In South Darfur

Gunmen robbed a branch of Al-Tadamon Islamic bank in Nyala town, the provincial capital of south Darfur State.

The armed men broke into the bank and took an estimated 257.000 Sudanese pounds (US$85600), according to local media.

The five armed men who were dressed in military uniform carried Kalashnikov assault rifles.

The men parked their Toyota Land Cruiser-model vehicle in front of the bank building and then stormed the bank’s guard and took their weapons. Members of the group started firing gunshots randomly and escape the place. Security forces rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area.

South Darfur’s Governor Abd-al-Hamid Musa Kasha has pledged to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Nyala which hosts two million residents is the centre of operations for several humanitarian agencies based in Darfur. The town has witnessed a high level of criminal activates including kidnapping of foreign aid workers and also UNAMID force.

In April, four south African peacekeepers who were kidnapped near to thier Nyala base were released.

Law and order in the Western Region of Darfur has collapsed since 2003 when black African rebels began to take arms against the Sudan government.

The ongoing conflicts in Darfur has killed some 300,000 people and displaced more than 2.5 million others, according to the UN report. Sudan however said only 10,000 people are dead.

Muhyadin Ahmed Roble is a Somali freelance journalist reporting for Eurasia Review living in Nairobi. He can be contacted at [email protected]